I'm Jewish, I voted for McCain, I'm not racist, nor am I anti-Zionist. Same thing for my husband, brother, mother, grandfather, and uncle. And while I don't know for sure how they voted, I would venture to guess that the majority of people in my shul could say the same.

Where do people come up with this stuff?!

Jameel/Joe -- Can someone really decide to make aliyah in November and get on the plane to Israel in just a few months? I thought the process took longer than that?

The racists here are all those who voted for Obama because of his race, because they wanted to see the first black president get elected.Not those who voted against having a socialist, extreme-leftist president. (who incidentally happens to be black)

Sorry, but racist right-wing was the first explanation that came to mind after the opening line - that Obama winning would be a big push for aliyah.

Why otherwise would anyone flee America just as we're finally starting to get hope again?

And sorry, but I've been reading lots of comments by right-wing racist Jews on a number of blogs recently, and I'm absolutely disgusted - largely because we manage to continue this asinine stance against fellow Jews in Israel.

Of course, not all McCain supporters are racists. Who ever suggested such a thing?

The point is, a substantial number of Orthodox Jews are racists. That is undeniable. Therefore, the Orthodox Jewish community as a whole has no credibility on the question of an election between a white man and a black man.

Jackie Mason recently did a bit insisting that his opposition to Obama was due not to racism but because Obama has "no accomplishments." Not only is that a flat-out, baldfaced lie, Mason neglects to mention that he once referred to David Dinkins as a "fancy schvartze with a mustache." Yeah, not racist indeed.

Simply claiming not to be a racist does little to reassure skeptics, especially if you follow your reassurance with some inflammatory and inaccurate statement like that Obama is a "socialist."

Orthodox Jews have always had their share of loonie right-wingers with over-the-top judgments of white Democrats like Clinton, Gore, and Kerry. But the sheer viciousness directed toward Obama is unprecedented, and it's especially striking when directed at someone as clearly competent and thoughtful as Obama has shown himself to be.

What I also find ironic is that many of these same people--who balk at the possible suggestion that opposing Obama could be a sign of racism--are exactly the sorts to act like anyone who criticizes Israel (at least Likud-nik policies) is a Jew-hater.

I love it when people (on the left) project their vision/understanding of the solution on the people of the right, completely disregarding anything we actually say.

Typical.

Aw, c'mon Joe! Why is it ok for YOU to do that to people on the left but not ok for them to do it to you?!

I'm with Zipporah on this one: I may be fantasizing here when I hope that NBN will fill their plane with sensible, balanced Jews making Aliya for well-considered reasons, not because they've been overdosing on "Shuva"-esque nonsense, kickstarted by Obama and his changes, being thus propogated by Mr. Joseph Settler on this blog.

tafka: We are both living through the statements and the policies of the Left in Israel, and we've seen where its brought us on buses, in restaurants, in Gaza and Lebanon. I don't need to project onto the Left their statements and actions. They do that for themselves.

Meanwhile on this blog we have repeatedly stated the positions and solutions of the right, and the Left continue with their fantasy of ignoring or reinterpreting what we are really saying (often repeating their mantra that "the right has no solution").

Heck, just look at the comments here. There have never been any racist remarks on this blog, much less against Obama, yet any remark against Obama is automatically blamed on racism as opposed to his actual views, statements and political positions.

"A statement like 'The point is, a substantial number of Orthodox Jews are racists.' reflects more on the author of that statement than on the actual beliefs of Orthodox Jews."

Hey, don't believe me. Take the following as an indication:

while many things have surprised me about the Orthodox world, nothing has surprised me more than the unapologetic bigotry of more than a few Orthodox Jews. At a Shabbat table recently a black-hatted man discussed which kosher establishments on the Upper West Side did and did not meet his standards. He then joked that in the 1960s he had been politically very liberal. "Yeah, I was almost a freedom rider," he said, "but I couldn't stand it to sit next to a schwartze on the bus. It would make me nauseous."

A woman at the opposite end of the table found that this accorded with her experience and added that, in her opinion, blacks have an identifiable odor. "I don't know what it is," she told us. "I just find it offensive." Another Friday night, a pretty young woman put it to me frankly. "I just hate Puerto Ricans.. period," she said. Puerto Ricans.. you see, are honorary schwartzes.

As are the Arabs. One Shabbat morning at a wealthy Manhattan synagogue, the rabbi noted in his sermon that a West Bank settler was to be tried in Israel for killing a Palestinian. After stabbing a Jew, not fatally, the Palestinian had been disarmed and tied up. A settler had then walked up to the prisoner and shot him to death. As we walked out of the sanctuary, an acquaintance of mine argued that, under such arcumstances and if they could get away with it, Jewish settlers were right to execute Palestinians. "Violence. That's all the Arabs understand," he said. "When in China, do like the Chinese."

Who wrote those words? Was it some lefty peacenik baal teshuva who fails to understand the nuances of Yiddish and thinks anyone who supports welfare reform is a dyed-in-the-wool racist?

It is actually David Klinghoffer, National Review editor, more recently author of the book How Would God Vote? Why the Bible Commands You to be a Conservative. I seriously doubt Klinghoffer voted for Obama. He might even agree with your claim that Obama is a far leftist. But one thing he would not agree with is your attempt to whitewash the undeniable fact of Orthodox bigotry. In his words:

It is possible that my political affiliation sets some men and women at ease, encouraging them to voice their least attractive opinions. On being introduced to people in synagogues and at Shabbat and Yom Tov tables, I am invariably asked what I do for a living. I say that I work for National Review, which is the conservative opinion magazine owned by William F. Buckley Jr. "So," goes the next question, "you're a conservative?" Some polite conversation follows. And then, not infrequently, my new acquaintance will proceed to drop remarks about "schwartzes"-- pronounced, by the sort of person who use words like this, in the same tone of contempt as when pronouncing "guuy", the Yiddish appropriation of the more neutral Hebrew "goy". I am expected to join in the smirking, given that after all I am a conservative.

And so after telling the joke I mention above, the humorist at that seder turned to me, grinning wryly. "You're not offended, are you?" he asked. "I thought you were a conservative."

I had been waiting for this question. I had intended to adopt a look of pain-stricken dignity and tell him that there is a difference, sir, between a conservative and a bigot or something like that. But I lost my nerve, as I have before when the subject of "schwartzes" came up, and probably will the next time I'm given the opportunity. Instead I offered him a polite smile, and he turned away.

Anyone familiar with the Orthodox Jewish community knows of the virulent racism among certain strains of them. There is no point in debating it. Any frum person who denies it is either lying through their teeth or is so racist themselves they don't recognize racism when they see it.

If the Jews that support Isreal with their time , money and blood and who have Jewish grandkids are racist count me in. I didn't vote for Obama not because he is black. I didn't because he is a white trash liar pretending that he as an aryan mulatto without a slavery history , raised by his white family can play the race card and get guilty intermarried Jews to vote for him . THAT IS RACISM.

So let me get this straight. Some pundit wrote 14 years ago about an event that may (or may not) have happened and you therefore paint the entire Orthodox community as racist as a result. Do you save these articles to pull them out to bolster up your fantasy?

As every reader of this blog can attest to, you guys are the first to raise the issue of Obama's race on this blog. Perhaps you are the racists?

Tzipppora, you should get out of your bubble and actually talk to Republicans sometime. It might be shocking for a liberal to hear this, but everything is not about race. There are plenty of reasons to be worried about an Obama presidency and none of them have to do with the fact that he had a black father.

So let me get this straight. Some pundit wrote 14 years ago about an event that may (or may not) have happened and you therefore paint the entire Orthodox community as racist as a result. Do you save these articles to pull them out to bolster up your fantasy?

Where did you get the idea that I described "the entire Orthodox community as racist"? I never said that. I said, "a substantial number of Orthodox Jews are racists." Can you even read? Or are you just so unable to address the point that you have no recourse except to put words in other people's mouths?

You think I'm just making this up? I've lived in the Orthodox community all my life, and I've been in many Orthodox communities around the United States. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about. But I thought quoting a journalist would lend a bit more credibility to the claim, especially since it's by an arch-conservative, which makes it hard for you to dismiss his observations as liberal oversensitivity. It is simply one of the more eloquent pieces I have seen written on the subject, but it is very far from the only one.

I supported John McCain in the presidential campaign just concluded, and given the choice I would do so again.Having said that, anyone who wasn't profoundly moved by Barack Obama’s victory rally and speech on Tuesday night has to be either emotionally dead or devoid of any appreciation of just how historic a moment it was.The tears of joy and disbelief, the looks of wonder and hope, on all those faces in that crowd -- particularly, for obvious reasons, the black faces -- were enough to offset the despair I felt the next morning on reading through the shamefully racist and abjectly ignorant comments posted by visitors to certain Orthodox websites.

Now, I don't agree with Mr. Maoz that Mr. Obama is too liberal and has horrible associations. But by acknowledging the problem, Mr. Maoz has earned the right not to be accused of racism.

I think any Orthodox Jew has the perfect right to support John McCain, and not to be thought of as a racist. But by pretending there isn't a problem of racism in the Orthodox community, you become complicit in the problem.